Paint and varnish remover.



UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

JOHN M. WILSON, OF MONT-CLAIR, NEW JERSEY, AND HENRYA; HARRIS, OF LONGISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO WILSON COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,A CORPORA- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

PAINT AND vAnms'H REMOV-ER.

, Patented June 9, 1908.

Application 'mea'retmu is, 1908. Serial No. 414,338.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,":Jo1m M." WILSON and HENRY A. HARRIS, botlicitizensof the United States, and residing at Montclair,

.New Jersey, and Long Island "City, New

York, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPaint an 1 Varnish Removers, of which the following is a s ecification.

n the production of finish removers adapted particularly for thetreatment of dried films of paint or varnish, as distinguished fromanalogous, yet dissimilar waterproofing cements and Water-proofincompounds, which are, as a matter of far/t, a species of varnish, it isessential to produce an extremely slow-drying mixture, capable ofyielding a soft, Wax-like, yet tenacious, impervious and sgbstantiallynon-adhesive film, upon the evaporation of the liquid solvent from themixture Our invention relates to improvements in that class of finishremovers, particularly paint, and varnish removers, which containwax-like compounds preferably in. complete solution therein at normalte1nperaturcs,-

t. c. 20 degrees Centigrade, and which are yet extremely tenacious amfree from wax-precipitants such as alcohols, and has for its objects theproduction of a mixture which is capable of iroducing a soft, imperviousfilm upon a superficial evaporation of the solvent thereof and which isstable, when stored, and without effect upon the grain of the woodensurfaces which may be treated.

The paint and varnish removers'hcretofore produced which containwax-like compounds therein, consisted not only of a wax solvent, orsolvents, and wax, but also of either other normally solid compounds insolution, such as soft-soap and inorganic com ounds as clay,fullers"earth and talcum, or 'e se a compound such as alcohol, which wascapable of precipitating the said wax and thereb I forming a moresubstantial film upon t e superficial evaporation of the wax solvent,than could be obtained were wax alone dissolved in a wax solvent, suchas benzol (benzene). Moreover, the elimination of the so called paintand varnish which terms b they are enerally known, has; heretofore beenconsi cred impossible in those instances loyed in dissolvin the said i gthat it has been desired to produce a mix ture for the treatment of pamtand varnish surfaces]. Not only was the benzol substantially inerttoward aint and varnish films which had been age for greater-or lessperiods, but, on the other hand, the solvent action of said benzol onthe wax, prevented the formation of a sufficient film to retardevaporation of the benzol. Again, the use of carbolic acid inconjunction with wax as a paint or varnish remover has never beenconsidered feasible owing to its extremely corrosive pro erties, andalso because of the fact that carbolic acid is ofiitself non-volatile,and therefore, the addition of wax would be superfluous.

Our experiments led to the discovery that a remarkably cfiicient finishremover suitable for the treatment of paint, varnish or wax films whichhave been exposed for long eriods to the atmosphere, can be producezl bythe judicious mixture of benzol (benzene), carbolic acid and wax, saidmixture possessin entirely different properties, both physical y andchemically, than the combined properties of the separate ingre-' dientsthereof.

In carrying out our invention we prefer to.

roceed as follows: One-half pound of parafin wax is dissolved by heatmgin from aproxiinately one-half to one pound of 'carwho acid crystals ofcommerce, and to this mixture is added one gallon of benzol (ben zene),preferably said mixture occurring at a somew iat lower temperture thanthe maximum temperature of 70 (3., preferably emaraflin wax.

he mixture is then cooled an is ready for use.-

The said finish remover; as is evident, is not only extremely easy toproduce, but the same possesses the remarkable property of dissolvingdried films of paint, and varnish with as much facility as thecommercial paint and varnish removers, consisting principally, oratleast in large part, of wood alcohol (methyl alcohol). Moreover, u onthe superficial evaporation of the benzo a remarkable tenacious andimpervious film results, which is impossible to obtain when wax isdissolved in benzol alone or in carbolic acid alone. Owing to theabsence of alcohol, or substances containing large arndunts of water,this mixture is absolutely inert in so faras any action upon the woodensurfaces to which it may be a lied is concerned, and thereby it is ossie to subject the finest woods in. the orrn of veneers or panels to theaction of this remover without w1n any way raising the grain thereof. Itis thus possi'bte to avoid the subsequent sandpapering or planing'whichis invariably required, when alcoholic or aqueous solvents are presentin the remover. i One of the chief advantages, over and above thoseheretofore mentioned, possessed by the finish-remover herein described,is that, of stability, as the solution of the wax in the benzql and thecarbolic acid, eliminates the possibility of the settling of said wax,especially in the cold, ufpon storage, and there- )y-the se egation owaxy particles at the bottom o the solution is entirely prevented. Suchfinely precipitated wax of many mixtures nowin use, even if in permanentsuspension 'therein, is objectionable, owing to the fact thatin' ractleeit not only settles without'the agency of a paint 'or varnish remover. v

The term "'wax, when not otherwise qualified, is used generically in theclaims to include various waxy bodies havingproper- ;tiescorresponding.to paraffin wax or beeswant, such aswould render them applicablescribed, including various mineral, vegetable or animal waxes, such asparaffin, Japan wax, beeswax, curriersgrease, etc. The expression"awax-solvent containing the benzene ring" is used t0 'il10l11d8 aro-'matic hydrocarbons proper, and the substitution erivatives thereof, theterm benzene ring being well understood by those skilled in the art tocover the structural formula containing six atoms of carbon and sixatoms of hydro en or substitution radicals in lieu of the sail h dro e'natoms. For exampleboth benzo and carbolic acid are com rehefided by saidexpression.

T 0 interaction of the benz'ol with the carwhich not only isnon-corrosive toward wood, but is even without violent action u on themost delicate human skin'and there ore obviously the said mixture isharmless and without action upon the hands or even upon. the face, inthe event of accidental appl cation thereto by one a plying the mixtureor C(YlllpOUIlLl, either wit 1 a brush, or by means of pneumaticpressure, to thesurtaces treated,

. The remover, being free from'so called neu-' upon and coats t esurfaces to be treated,

.fortheproduction of the effect herein debolic acid, or phenol, producesa mixture tral or pure soaps, both of which are unsatisfactory in use,owing to the fact that the wood is darkened or discolored and the grainthereof is swollen or raised by the action thereof, is entirely withoutdeleterious action 7; upon wood, and neither discoloration thereof orthe swelling or raising of the grain occurs even when said removers arebrought in contact-with the finest of woods. I

Another important feature of this invention resides in the fact thatwhen said. remover is; chilled, no segregation of crystalline particlesof wax occurs, as is the case when wax precipitants are resent, such forexample as methyl alcohol, ut, on the other hand, the solution, whenchilled, merely congcals in a manner exactly similar to the action ofwater between 0 and 4 G.,-in other words a homogeneous thickening of thesolution occurs, with the production of a semi-solid mass. Upon raising,the temperature of the solutionwhen so congealed, it immediately assumesthe original thin consistency and the wax is completely dissolvedtherein.

One half pound of paraffin wax is mentioned as the amount used in ourpreferred mixture, itis evident however t e amount of paraffin wax mayvary within wide limits,

accordin to the nature of the mixture de- 5 sired am the pur oses forwhich said mixture is intended, but for ordinary use, we preferemployment of at least one-half'pound of Wax per gallon of benzol.Likewise, while the amount of carbolic acid crystals is speci fied inthe preferred formula set forth, as varying from one-half tothree-quarters of a pound, itis evident that, if desired, the amount ofcarbolic acid employed may vary beyond these limits, without departingfrom 5 the spirit of our invention, although preferably, when .a mixtureis desired which is ab- 'solutely without action upon the hands, aproximately one-half pound of said carbo 1c acid is employed. On theother hand, in many cases, a pound of carbolieacid ma be advantageouslyemployed without preju ice, owing'to the fact that the mixture isapplied. either by means .of a spraying device or a brush, which are somanipulated asto avoid 5.

the possibility of contact of the mixture with sensitive portions of theskin, althou h the action ofeven this amount of carbo ic acid, is not atall dangerous or violent in so far as the hands of the person applyingthe 20 said remover are concerned, and in an event "the removal of themixture from the s in can. be quickly accomplished when necessarywithout any harmful result whatsoever.

The term aqueous-alkaline solution is self 1 5 explanatory and obviouslyincludes ammoniacal solutions or solutions'of soft soap 'which areinvariabl alkaline in reaction.- Also, the meaning 0 the termaqueous-acid solution is self evident and obviously includes 136 of benzthe common mineral acids and organic acids such as acetic acid, all ofwhich ordinarily contain large percentages of water.

Having thus described our invention,

5 What we claim is:

1. A paint and varnish remover comprising benzol, phenol and wax, saidmixture being free from preci itated wax, and being free from aqueous-aaline and aqueous-acid IO'SOlUiJiOIlS, and capable of ielding soft, yettenacious, films, having ittle affinity for 4 wooden surfaces, upon theevaporation of the solvent superficially therefrom. s

2. A plamt and varnish removerconsisting o phenol, and wax, said waxbeing in complete solution in said mixture, and said mixture bein freefrom alcoholic wax-precipitants, ant capable of ielding soft, yettenacious, films, having ittle affinity for wooden surfaces, upon theevaporation of the solvent superficially therefrom.

3. A palnt and varnish remover compris-v ing wax and a'plurality ofwax-solvents containing the "benzene ring said mixture bein free fromsufficient amounts of waxprec pitants to effect the precipitation ofsaid wax at normal temperatures, and bein capable of yielding soft, yettenacious, lms, iaving little a upon the evaporation of. the

solvent superficially therefrom.

nity for wooden surfaces,-

4. .A paint and varnish remover consisting of benzol, phenol andparaffin wax, said wax being in complete solution in said mixture, andsaid mixture beingfree from aqueousalkaline and aqueous-acid solutions,and

1 being free from wax-precipitants in sufficient amount to effectrecipitation of said wax, the said mixture Eeing capable of yieldingsoft, yet tenacious, 'films, having little 40 affinity for woodensurfaces, upon the evappration of the solvent superficially thererom.

' 5. A paint and varnish remover consisting of one gallon of benzol,one-half to threequarters of a pound of carbolic acid crystals, andapproximately one-half pound of wax, said wax being in complete solutionin said mixture, and said mixture being free from wax-'precipitants, andcapable of yielding soft, yet tenacious, films, having little affinityfor wooden surfaces, u on .the evaporation of the benzol superficlal ytherefrom. v

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of. 5 5 I twosubscribing witnesses, this third day ofFebruary 1908.

. JOHN M. WILSON.

HENRY A. HARRIS. Witnesses: i

CHARLES E. WIR'Z, W. H. SWENARTON.

